Gender difference in Vocational Interest and Intelligence among High School Students

Vocational interest is characterized by individual’s preference for certain career choices, activities or behaviours. By the time children reach high school they tend to develop preferences for certain careers or work which guides their choice of subject and the kind of career they make. Intelligence has been seen as an overall capacity to be able to think logically and act according to situational demands to adjust effectively. The growth of male and females doesn’t take place with the same pace and therefore it is likely to observe differences between males and females’ psychology. The present study aimed to investigate gender differences in vocational interest and intelligence between male and female high school students. To materialize this aim, a total of 60 high school students (30 males, 30 females) were selected in the sample and divided in two groups as per their gender. Their vocational interest was measured by Interest Inventory developed by Bureau of Psychology and Intelligence was measured by Verbal intelligence test (Bureau of psychology test no 14) and Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices. The findings of the study indicated that males and female high school students differed in vocational interest on some dimensions. Male students had shown more interest in Computational and Scientific areas whereas female students shown more interest in Outdoor, Artistic and Clerical areas compared to their counterparts. The two groups also differed significantly in their intelligence. Male students scored higher on verbal intelligence compared to females, but there was no significant difference in nonverbal intelligence of the two groups. The findings are discussed in light of existing literature. It is concluded that male and female high school students differ on their vocational intelligence and intelligence. Identifying individual differences especially with regard to gender, may help counsellors to provide guidance to the students as per their interest and potential.